The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it....

I recently offered a survey to all of my newsletter subscribers. I was looking to get some feedback from golfers for the new book I'm writing. (If you would like to have a look at the survey, you can find it here) There were a number of interesting points which arose from the responses. The question ‘what is most important to you when you play’ provided some revealing insights. The three options were performance, enjoyment and learning. 13% of respondents said learning. 48% said enjoyment....

A couple of weeks ago my electric toothbrush stopped working. It had been on its last legs for a few months so I wasn’t totally surprised when it finally expired. The following morning, I wandered down to the local shopping centre to buy a new one. A well-known chain of chemists had a sale on, so I went in and had a look round. Happily, they had one left of the model I was looking for - and there was a discount! Whoop! :0) I picked it up and wandered back towards the front of the store to pay....

T-CUP – Thinking Correctly Under Pressure, is an acronym brought to prominence by England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward during the successful 2003 World Cup campaign. Coaches and psychologists in all sports have spent thousands of hours trying to devise ways to help players think the right thought at the right moment. Thinking the right thought will lead to the right feeling which will lead to the right action or behaviour. Or so the theory goes. Two Myths About Thinking There are a couple of...

I was chatting with a golfer the other day. She had been struggling with her game and despite practising and taking lessons, her best golf was proving elusive when she wanted it most. She was experiencing a lot of thinking on the golf course and wondered whether meditation might be a way of finding more clarity when she was playing. I asked her what she meant by meditation. ‘You know, sitting quietly, repeating a mantra, trying to get my thoughts under control,’ she replied. ‘If I can learn to...

I played golf with one of my golf mentoring clients last week. It’s something I like to do as soon as possible after we start working together. It’s OK seeing someone hit golf balls on the driving range or in the studio, but there’s nothing like playing 18 holes to get a complete picture of someone’s game. Like many golfers, David’s main desire was for more consistency. He played some great golf but hit several shots which led to big numbers on his card. It was clear to see that for David to...

The unspoken language of golf is thoughts and feelings. The feelings we have about our game are why we play. Or don’t play. Why we became captivated by the game. And why it can sometimes become an addiction we wish we could break free from. Understanding the true nature of thought and feeling is the key to the cage. How else, other than through deeper understanding, can we reconcile the times when our feelings seem to be pulling in two opposing directions? Like the need for the feeling of...

There is one simple reason why many golfers struggle. It’s usually because they believe something which isn’t true. For example a golfer will have problems if they believe they are aiming at the target, when in fact they are aiming way right. This mistake would be obvious to anyone standing behind the golfer, yet they themselves are oblivious to it. It’s often difficult to be aware of your beliefs from the inside, so to speak. They act as a sort of filter, allowing through information which...